I’m delighted that two of my colleagues at Ave Maria University, both philosophers, have added their voice to the ongoing debate about the role of true philosophy as a path to Truth.

Barry David responded thus:

Certainly Leo XIII’s Aeterni Patris (a watershed document in asserting the value of Thomistic philosophy) and, in a less obvious way, John Paul II’s Fides et Ratio make claims that Thomistic philosophy is, in key respects, normative and/or exemplary. The Church thinks much the same about elements of ‘Augustinian’ philosophy, but less so than of Thomistic philosophy.

I don’t have the time right now to scroll through those documents (and there are other documents as well) to find relevant passages. However, those are places to look.

And here are the comments of Steven Long:

If it is a question of the Church’s estimation of the thought of Augustine and Thomas, it is like asking how one knows the sun is hot: the macro phenomena are sufficient to make the case.

Of course, philosophically, the fellow needs to engage with these authors intellectually to benefit from them.